by Prof. Lydia Ayers

Chordophones: Strings

• A vibrating string produces sound.

• Important elements are the string and a rigid frame to hold it tight.

• Plucked

• Struck

• Bowed

• Air

North American Folk Music• Where was the farmer who wanted to win

the Nobel prize?• Out standing in his field….

African Bow Harp• <8:07> lullaby

– accompanied by bow harp with gourd resonator, struck with stick

– Zulu people, Republic of South Africa

• African myth about the origin of the bow harp:

Swazi man plays a musical bow http://viewimages.lycos.com/LycosPurchase.asp?imageid=AR000357&partnerid=12

A young girl went out for a walk. She knelt down and A young girl went out for a walk. She knelt down and drank water with cupped hands at a stream. At the drank water with cupped hands at a stream. At the very moment when she had satisfied her thirst, a very moment when she had satisfied her thirst, a man dealt her a strong blow on the nape of the neck. man dealt her a strong blow on the nape of the neck. As she died, she immediately transformed into a As she died, she immediately transformed into a musical bow; her body became the wood, her limbs musical bow; her body became the wood, her limbs the cord, her head the sound box, and her spirit the the cord, her head the sound box, and her spirit the melancholy and sentimental music.melancholy and sentimental music.

Berimbau• bow and arrow-like instrument• folk ritual• from African jungles of Angola to Bahia,

Brazil• played by striking the string with a stick

while stopping the string with a coin and holding a shaker

Berimbau• How to build and play the berimbau

probably came to Brazil from Africa• Often compared to the moans of slaves

longing for their African homeland • African musical bow primarily a solo

instrument• Brazilian bow developed into an

ensemble instrument, employed in public performances of capoeira and samba

• The word berimbau is Portuguese

<8:08> Capoeira

• Brazilian dance from martial arts• accompanied by berimbau

– high note produced by coin pressed against string (stopped)

– low note on open string (unstopped)

EKTARA / GOPI YANTRA • Bengal folk instrument• Spherical resonator

made of dried pumpkin, wood or coconut

• Split bamboo cane neck• String attached through

skin membrane on the bottom of the resonator

http://www.indian-instruments.com/stringed_instruments/ektara_gopiyantra.htm

One String Phono Fiddle• A web search for “one string instrument”

produced a picture of the phono fiddle– The bell amplifies the sound!!

http://www.carolenoakes.co.uk/market/otherstrings/CNS730.htm

Monochord: Đàn bầu• Vietnamese• Wood box resonator, with a

flexible vertical stick (neck), to which one end of its string is tied

• Uses mostly harmonic overtones• Subtle ornamentations, glissandi

and imitation of the human voice produced by simultaneously plucking the string and pulling the vertical stick

• [iii:38] Hanh van from Tieng Đàn bầu

<7:8> Bow Harp• man singing and playing 2 bow harps• Baule people, Ivory Coast

http://www.artichokeguitars.com/published/our_collection/string_ethnic_instruments.htm

<7:9> Kora

• body half a large gourd• thick center pole with 10 strings on one side,

and 11 on the other

kora playerkora maker

<5:5> Kulibit

• Bamboo tube zither from the Philippines

http://www.geidai.ac.jp/~odaka/gcat/image/212.jpg

Zheng

• popular during the Warring States period

– 12 to 21 strings, with movable bridges like flying wild geese

– plucking techniques– pressing techniques– <3:13> shaking techniques

Zheng• [iii:8] <3:14> The Lotus is in Blossom

Above the Water– The beginning of the music, like the red lotus

blossom out of the water, symbolizes the prettiness and tenderness of the lotus blossom

Qin

• the most ancient Chinese string instrument used today

• playing was cultivated as a literary pastime and for spiritual elevation

• Typical performing environment – privacy and intimate surroundings of a

gentleman-scholar’s study

• Programmatic titles dominate

Qin / Guqin

• 7-string zither

• an instrument that has survived more than 2,500 years

• an indigenous musical instrument (not imported)

Qin• The sound of the instrument is

extremely soft– dynamic variations are confined to a

small range

• Minute differences in finger techniques produce many shades of musical timbre– e.g. many kinds of vibratos, glissandi,

harmonics, etc.

• <3:15> video of qin on No 17 Cotton Mill Shanghai Blues, Music in China

Qanoun

• zither– groups of three

strings, like the piano, but is plucked

– tremolo technique– tuning levers

Umut Yesilmen

Harry Partch's Instruments

[iv:37] Whoopie Ti-Yi-Yo,Get Along Little Doggies

• Appalachian Mountain Dulcimer accompanied by guitar and violin

Listening Practice• [11] Samma means

raining in Mandinka• Rain is a blessing that

helps new life to grow and a hindrance that prevents a man from visiting his girlfriend.

• Foday Musa Suso, Foday Musa Suso, KoraKora

• Pharoah Sanders, Pharoah Sanders, Tenor SaxophoneTenor Saxophone Foday Musa Suso

PharoahSanders

• M1831.M36 J35 CD3510

Sources• Books

– Nettl, Capwell, Bohlman, Wong and Turino: Excursions in World Music

– Willoughby: The World of Music– Mickey Hart & Fredric Lieberman: Planet Drum– Jeff Todd Titon, ed.: Worlds of Music (3rd edition)

• Web– http://music.acu.edu/www/iawm/pages/enhed.html– http://128.174.172.76/~mjwetzel/mjw.inhsCAR.html– http://www.pubaf.bnl.gov/pr/bnlpr092299.html– http://www.patsweb.com/Lightning.jpg

Sources: Videos & CDs• Videos

– The Nature of Music, RM Arts [ML2790 N478 1988]

– Exploring the World of Music, vols. 1, 4 [MT7 E97 1998 v.4]

– Dizzy Gillespie: an all-star tribute to the jazz master [M1366 .G555 1989]

– JVC video anthology of world music and dance; v.29 [M1627 .J4 1991 v. 19, 29]

– Personal videos from Bali, Korea and Vietnam